Legend of Ascalon
by Dajun - Shinespark
Summary: A century in the future, the last city has been destroyed. Can anyone help us win the final battle for planet Earth? Or will the world belong to the monsters? Nothing to do with Guild Wars. first fic, please R&R.
1. Our Brothers

**Legend of Ascalon:**

**The Trigger**

**Chapter 1: Our Brothers**

It is a very well known fact that very few things in the world are what they appears to be, and that it's virtually impossible to predict anything with absolute accuracy. Despite all of this, the rather dim and totally useless creatures known as humans still reckons that they are the dominating species of this planet and because of this, they assumes that they have the right to do what ever they want with their beautiful planet no matter how much it annoyed the other little creatures who just happens to be sharing it's surface.

"No more," Commander Darkness whispered at the thought. For nearly ten millenniums his people has been living in fear, fear that one wrong step and their entire existence would be discovered and destroyed. For nearly ten millenniums his people have been hidden, watching in silence as the primitive animals known as man learned with painfully slow pace to stand up and walk. The very idea that such abominations such as humans would soon populate every corner of the globe had sickened them since the beginning and nothing could have made them happier than to exterminate every single one of these little devils right there and then.

But they didn't, they waited.

Thanks to their good nature, they decided to try and communicate with the humans before reaching a final conclusion on how to deal with them. It is only fair to let the apes know about their fate, giving them a fighting chance. What a terrible mistake.

Just like the humans now, Darkness's people was blinded by arrogance and the idea that such primitive beings couldn't possibly stand up against them. But the truce was, the battle was already over before it even started.

Within just a few days of their little conflict, man has already discovered the mystical substance known as fire, something Darkness's people had concluded to be dangerous and untameable and should only be used to give energy to their Gods.

But like the animals they are, the humans simply had no common sense, they could only see one side of the fire, it's warmth and the fact that it can be used for cooking.

"Perhaps it's qualities like these that caused our defeat," Darkness whispered again, although this time he shook his head at the thought, "No! We cannot compare ourselves to the humans! The only reason why they won was that we were out numbered, those primitive monkeys bred as fast as wild fire, a pace we simply couldn't possibly match."

But now it was the time, he thought with content, now his army was ready, ready to fight for what was theirs in the first place.

"Tonight, we fight for our home land!" He yelled at the heart of the storm and a cheer louder than thunder roared from behind as tens upon thousands of mighty warriors riding atop of their trusting dragons prepared for the battle ahead. "A long time ago, our ancestors attempted to rid this land of humans, I say we finish what they've started!"

Another cheer, coupled with the roar of the dragons was all the confidence Darkness needed, for no weapons the humans could ever forge would protect them tonight.


	2. Troubled Times

Author's note: ALERT! Stop everything! First of all, I would like to thank Shadow of Raven for reviewing my story, and also for reminding me to mention something very important. OK, Legend of Ascalon has absolutely NOTHING to do with Guild Wars. Let me explain: this whole idea was originally my English project, I already had the story line, just needed a title. And then one of my friends suggested the name Ascalon and I thought that it was perfect. That was until the kid told me that he got the name from Guild Wars. I'm very sorry about this and I would like to just remind everyone that this is a Yu-gi-oh fic, and there would be more references later but please don't be put off by any of this, it's only going to get better. Cheers!

Dajun.

Chapter 2: Troubled Times

"Platform 4 is now being boarded, platform 4 is now being boarded."

Atto ran to speed at the sound of the intercom.

"Platform 4 is now being boarded, please prepare to show your tickets."

Tickets, something that Atto made sure he had this time.

"Platform 4 is now being boarded, please allow time to load your packages."

Time, now that was something he _didn't_ have, but he was never going to get any no matter how early he woke up that morning.

"Atto, you fool!" He silently yelled at himself, "Why did you have to be so direct last night? If only you implied your feelings and watched out for reactions, you wouldn't be in this mess right now." But he was in it whether he liked it or not, he's going to apologise to her even if it's the last thing he'll do.

But he couldn't stop himself thinking, is this girl really worth so much effort? Do you really like her that much? Is it really worth risking a chance of getting your face smashed in? He thought for a moment, picturing her face in his mind and answered his own question. Yes, yes she is.

No one ever told him this was going to be easy, he himself never thought that this was going to be easy. Yet as he stepped off the MD express, he couldn't hep feeling a little bit nervous.

Just tell her you're sorry and that you didn't mean any of it.

But I did! He thought, starting a little war in his own mind, I meant every word of it!

By the time he reached the front door of the rather old-fashioned red brick house, he felt as if his head was about to explode. Not even the sweet smell of spring nor the singing birds could ease his doubts, especially the fact that when he knocked on the door, there were no replies.

He stared at the house, slightly confused. Surely she would be home at this time of day; she never did like going outside anyway.

But still nothing, not a sound, not even an annoying "Go away!" coming from inside. Although it wouldn't surprise him if she really did yell at him, he was after all, a complete fool the night before and he was mature enough admit to his mistakes like a man. Yet he wasn't a man, he was a teenager, a stupid teenager who just happened to fall for one of the toughest girls he's ever known.

He can hold back no longer…

"Angle? Are you there?" He whispered through a tiny hole in between two bricks on the side of the house, fearing beyond all else that someone other than her might hear him. "Look, I just want to talk, if you're still a bit confused then just…" He paused, wondering what to say next, it could be the only chance he'll ever get, but fear started yank at his sleeve and told him to cut it short and get the heck out of there before it's too late.

"Just forget all about it!" He yelled uncontrollably, even though this was the last thing he ever wanted to say to her, especially in this way, "Pretend that it never happened so that we can both just get back to our lives!"

"Forget about what?" A sweet yet firm voice came from behind.

Atto jumped in reaction and made a rather painful noise at the same time as he realised that something or someone was holding him down by the neck.

"I'm listening, Emes," She whispered into his ear, sending him a slight chill down his spine, "And don't _ever_ call me Angle!"

Now he was really scared, for those who knew Angle or Angelina would know that she is rather skilled at self defence and breaking someone's neck happens to be one of her many favourite skills, right next to knitting.

"So," Atto replied nervously, choosing his next few words carefully for it could be his last, "Where were you? I've been looking for you all day." He closed his eyes and waited for the worst, because that reply definitely wasn't something that Angelina was expecting or wanting to hear. To his surprise, however, she let go.

"I just went to pick up a few things at the shop," She said in a rather cheerful tone, the very _last_ thing Atto expected her to do, "I was just around the corner when I saw you belting down towards my house and so I decided to see what was so urgent." She finished with a sly look that told Atto instantly that he wasn't out of the woods yet, Angelina wanted answers and he needed to provide her with some good ones.

"Angle… I mean, Angelina," He spluttered, trying to think of something quick and smart to say before attempting an escape, "I just wanted you to know that I've made some awful mistakes last night and I would very much like to apologise for my behaviours."

Angelina looked at him in the eyes, as if scanning for the truce, for a brief moment she thought that she saw a twinkle of a lie but it quickly became apparent that he was more scared than guilty about anything.

"Well," She sighed after a few moments studying him, "This is obviously one of those things where we go inside to discuss," Atto stared at her, not believing his ears, "So if you'd like to step inside, we could have a nice pleasant that would hopefully sort this mess out."

Without another word, she pulled out her key and unlocked the door and from that moment, Atto knew that he's not going to get out of this whole thing any time soon…


	3. The Last City

Author's notes: Sorry for not updating for so long, guys, but I've been on holiday for pretty much the whole summer and I wasn't quite sure if updating from their would somehow violate my agreements to Trust me, I felt horrible for not being able to update for so long, I had so much ideas but could get them down on paper! But anyway, I'm back and ready to finally update again!

Review replies:

**Shadow of Raven: **Thanks for putting this story into your favourites; although I'm starting to think that no one else actually knows that I exists out there…

**Chapter 3: The Last City**

Humans, as accepted among many intelligent beings, are _the_ worst specie on this planet. Although a fly might seem to be more annoying, and a lion might seem to be more vicious, only a human can really define our modern concept of evil, or so many intelligent beings agree. Exactly how and why these so called 'intelligent' beings hate the humans and their civilisation so much is a mystery, where some says that it was because early humans hunted the 'Sons of the Earth', or Ethans, for food, others claim that it was simply because of fear that man kind would eventually reach a stage where they would overthrow the superior beings. Even jealousy was suggested.

But none of the Ethans, however intelligent they might be, could stop their inevitable downfall, before resorting to hiding. Over time, their power grew as their people regrouped and began to once again spread. They watched man's empires rise and fall, from the Romans all the way towards World War VII, they watched men kill other men for power, greed, even love, although the Ethans were slightly more interested with the killing, especially the amount of killing. After several millenniums, they observed the human's final war, World War VIII.

It was the battle that will be remembered forever, the battle that only lasted a few hours but caused more devastation than anything else in this world. The neutron bomb explosion flattened nearly the planet's entire surface, killing billions at the same time. That night the Ethans celebrated in triumph, their time has finally come, for the humans are now few and isolated in a gargantuan dome city located in Africa which the apes had named Ascalon.

One city would have no chance at all against the mighty army of the Earth.

"And so our day has come, the creatures who destroyed their allies and gave us our salvation." It says in the ancient bible of the Ethans, and thanks to the human's incredible dimness, they have just sealed their own fate…

"Why don't you start from the top?" Angelina sighed after another minute of silence, getting anything at all from Atto was going to be harder than she thought, "What did you really want to say to me last night?"

Atto remained silent, he had never expected that he would leave in one piece, let alone sitting opposite Angelina in her own house.

"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"And…?" She eyed him with pretended confusion; the truce was she already knew exactly what he was thinking at that precise moment, all she really wanted out of all this was for him to admit it to her.

"It was all just a big misunderstanding and I really think I should be going now." Atto began to rise from his seat and was prepared to head towards the door when Angelina's hand grabbed his arm, refusing to let go.

"We both know that there's more to this than you're telling me." She smiled at his embarrassment, even though she knew that it was somewhat nasty to make fun of one's bad times. But this is pretty much the only way she could get a laugh these days.

Atto inhaled heavily and sat back down, his mind told him that it was now or ever.

"I've been holding this back for a while now, Angelina, so please be patient with me if it makes no sense at all." He inhaled once more before letting months of frustration out of his mind, "I… like you."

Angelina stared back at him, as if waiting for something more, but she received nothing more.

"Now I could do what others would do at this point…" She glanced at him with a small wink that sent arctic chills down his spine, "But instead, I'm going to say thanks for telling me and I'll wait for you tell me all of it any time you want."

The inevitable silence fell between them once again, this time, however, it was Atto's turn to scan Angelina's eyes for any signs of mischievousness.

He found none.

The roars of thunder bellowed harder as Darkness's personal strike team cruised silently through the tormented night sky on top of their ancient dragons. Before them loomed the equally silent Ascalon. From a distance, one would underestimate it's size and mistake it for some sort of bizarre hill, but as the commander and his men flew closer and closer, they couldn't stop themselves from marvelling at this magnificent structure. A massive dome covered with thousands of tiny towers, harnessing the lightning for power every time one of them was stroke by the white light.

And it was these towers that were Darkness's targets for phase one.

Camouflaged by the shadows, the Red Eyes Black Dragons began to close in on the nearest tower; their movements were slick and almost invisible against the night sky.

The tower's operator was in a half drunk type of trance and when the radar sensors began beeping he thought that his microwave dinner was ready.

Except he already ate.

Feeling sluggish, he dragged himself away from his desk and headed towards the balcony for some fresh air, still too drowsy to care about the frantic beeping, which seemed to get louder by the second.

By the time he reached his destination the beeps has transformed into a constant whine as the computer began to send emergency signals back to central command and has automatically began to record new information onto it's black box.

And it was about time too, because a few seconds later, the operator yelled: "What the hell is that?" before a mass of flames consumed the entire room turning almost everything into black dust.

From a distance, Commander Darkness gazed at the burning tower and silently smiled, for this was the beginning of the Great War…


	4. The Longest Night

Author's notes: Thanks to AmethystNox, I have noticed a slight yet significant spelling error in Chapter 2. Please don't laugh but it's supposed to be Angel, not Angle. OK, OK, everyone make mistakes, I will try to watch out for any misspelled words and grammar mistakes from now on but if you spot any, please let me know in your reviews. Thanks.

Review replies:

AmethystNox: I'll be more careful next time, but I still can't shake the feeling that no one else knows that I'm actually here. Do I have to make an advert or something? Thanks anyway.

**Chapter 3: The Longest Night**

Humans, as many agree, were never the most sensitive of animals on this Earth, many of which couldn't even sense the coming of their own demise.

On the night of the attack, however, things were quite different. Every single inhabitant of Ascalon felt the furry of the Ethans, although not immediately. Using every trick they could master, the dragon raiders disabled tower by tower, all of which were done quickly and efficiently.

But Darkness knew that it only be a matter of time before the humans finally discover what has happened, but he also knew that by the time really did find out, any resistance would all be too little too late.

The first few who felt the effects only dismissed it as a mild malfunction, it was, after all, just a slight stalling in all electrical equipments within the main dome. To the professionals, however, it was more or less a death sentence. Such power outs haven't happened in decades and facilities of this magnitude with almost automatic maintenance have no excuse what so ever for this little mistake.

But the worst was to come.

Within seconds the equipments stalled again, this time, however, they did not come back to life. As if a dooms day virus had struck the city, black outs began to spread from one block to another, thousands of square miles of civilian housings were suddenly plunged into darkness with no apparent ways of repairing the damage.

As the people of Ascalon began to enter the deadly phase of total panic without their precious electrical equipments, Darkness began to lead his men into the primary attack position, the outer dome might be reinforced against meteors, but it would be no match against the fiery breaths of ten thousand dragons concentrated into a spot no bigger than a small apartment. But that's all the space they would need to start the invasion and ultimately, the end of the dreaded humans.

It seemed so easy.

While the total shutdown of Ascalon continued, more and more people began to suspect that this problem won't be sorted for some time. But the panic truly began when the artificial sunlight and climate flickered before dying completely, revealing the pitch-black sky and rampaging lightning. It is not certain what it was that caused the mass of screams that soon followed, some say that seeing the true outside world was simply too overwhelming for primitive creatures such as humans, while others say that it was the arrival of the first group of dragons and their crimson flame of destruction.

Darkness didn't care much about that, all he did care was the fact that his most hated enemies were slowly and painfully boiling away, their screams of aguish were like music to his ears.

Atto and Angel didn't care much about what caused the screams either because they were more concerned with the job at hand, and that was to keep themselves from dying for as long as possible. It was a pretty obvious concept that doesn't always seem to catch on these days.

Even Angel seemed to be whiter than usual as Atto rushed to lock all the doors and windows within the cottage, judging by the noise outside they should be much safer to stay where they are.

"Right," The boy panted in anxiety as he slammed another window shut, "Are there any more windows on this floor?"

Through the darkness of the storm, Atto picked up the faint out lines of Angel's form standing somewhere away from the back door. Without a word, she shook her head.

"Alright." Ignoring her unusual silence, Atto proceeded upstairs, trying to locate any other possible entrances for what ever it might be out there. After a quick search, he walked into Angel's room and without even giving anything else a single glance; he went to the window and locked it. Suddenly, an explosion of pale blue flame a few blocks away caught his attention. On closer inspection through the window, Atto suddenly realised that staying inside might not be such a good idea after all.

"Angel!" He called through his teeth, "We've got to go!"

Angel appeared at the bottom of the stairs and gave him a "Why should we do that?" look. But moments later, when she saw the look on Atto's face, she knew that things were about to get complicated.

"What did you see?"

Silence, as Atto struggled to find a suitable answer to her question.

"Well?"

Still not saying a word, he began to pull her towards the nearest exit, ignoring her protests and struggles.

But he already knew that there was no way he's going to get her anywhere without an explanation…

"Emes!" Angel yelled and ripped her arm away from his grasp, completely ignoring the fact that everything suddenly went deadly quiet, "Tell me what you saw! Right now!"

Surrendering to her stubbornness, Atto opened his mouth to explain, only to stop as he noticed the sudden change to her expression. It was as if the Angel he knew had suddenly left the building and all that remained was this ghostly shell whose eyes were full to the brim of fear. Knowing that she has seen something, Atto slowly looked around until he saw the glass cabinet located at the corner of the room. Through its reflection, he saw the titanic shape, the pale scales, and the blue eyes and most importantly the pale blue steam rising from within it's rounded snout.

It was a sight he would always remember, for from this point on, Atto Emes will never be the same again…


	5. Confrontation

Author's note: Due to the fact that my homework is now getting onto my nerves and that my laptop is dying on me, I can now only update on my mum's computer and can only do so on weekends. So please be patient if I don't update for a long time, I might even update twice in one day, who knows?

Reply to Reviews:

**Curiousness: **I knew it; I just knew someone would give me a review like this. OK, I'll try to explain. First of all, thanks for pointing out my mistakes, you're obviously a much more careful reader than I am, and like I said before, I'll be more careful next time. Secondly, there's a reason why this story doesn't seem to have anything to do with Yu-Gi-Oh at the moment. This story was originally meant have nothing to do with Yu-Gi-Oh what so ever, but when I pictured the scenes in my head, I can't help but put monsters and characters from the anime into my story, and since any fans of Yu-Gi-Oh would rip my head off if I copied Shoen Jump's characters, I decided to make it a fanfic instead. But then I was faced with the problem as to how the characters would fit into the story. Don't worry, though, I've already got most of it covered. For example, if you type in the word Emes (Atto's last name) into a search engine, you'll see that it's based on a card. Darkness is also based on a card (I'm telling you which yet), and so is good old Angel (Again, I'm not telling which right now). So all I can say is keep reading and all would be revealed. Thanks anyway for reviewing.

**Chapter 5: Confrontation**

Darkness stared at the two human children in amusement, his personnel strike team has already scanned and destroyed nearly every housing from this small residential area, yet they've missed only one. His Blue Eyes White Dragon hissed and growled at the pair, eager to get another taste of human flesh, that's his problem, Darkness thought, he can never get enough blood.

With one slash of its white claws, the wall separating the hungry dragon and the two teenagers crumpled, spraying the cottage of debris and dust. Both of them covered their eyes as the dust finally settled and the dragon began to creep ever so close towards its prey.

The pair remained silent and still, as if to convince the beast that they're no difference from trees, but while it may be enough to fool the dragon, it was all kid's games to Darkness. But it was clear to him that these kids were more scared of his 'stallion' than himself.

He didn't like that.

"How clever it is of you children to hide in the shadows," He called, catching the two by surprise, "I suppose, it would be much kinder for me to end your pathetic life."

Finally beginning to understand the true threat, the boy began to silently urge his companion to back up into what's left of the house and away from this strange being, his elegant yet threatening armour, his tall and slim figure, but most of all the long and sleek double edged sword on his back and the deadly mace clipped onto his belt.

Sensing that his presence is finally noticed, Darkness climbed off his dragon and drew his sword, for this will be quick, he thought. As he began to advance closer, however, the boy picked up a long piece of support beam scattered near by with a sharp edge where it was broken off and pointed it at Darkness's direction.

"Like I said, pathetic," Darkness whispered, clearly not intimidated at all by this display and continued to close the gap between them.

"Stay back," The boy hissed through clenched teeth and held onto his 'weapon' with a tighter grip.

Darkness ignored him.

"I'm warning you…"

Completely unaffected, the commander took his final step and plunged his sword at the boy's heart, reminding himself once again that this would be quick.

The gleaming blade cut through the air like a deadly missile that's locked onto His heart. Time almost seemed to slow down as Atto struggled to react; it all seemed so hopeless, as if he was nothing more than a human shield in terms of protection for Angel. What was I thinking, he thought as the blade came closer, Angel can protect herself while enough without me getting into her way…

The blade stopped as sudden as it came, Atto opened his eyes and stared right into its edge as it was stopped just short of his chest. The large 'man' seemed just as surprised as he tried to yank his sword out of the wood. Amazingly, Atto had blocked his attack.

"Nice one, Emes!" Angel cheered from behind, "And as for you, big man…" She picked up a near by broken pottery and smashed what was left of it into the man's face before he could react in time. He yelled in pain and agony as she grabbed Atto by the shoulder and urged him to run for it.

Sensing that something was wrong, the white dragon roared and with that came the sizzling white fire ball that arc through the air, impacting the ground just in front of the escaping pair. The explosion caused them to stumble, but this wasn't a time to stop.

As Atto and Angel began to emerge from the ruins of the cottage and onto the open street, more and more dragons patrolling from near by noticed their presence and without warning, they dived straight for them. Now devoid of any weapons, all the pair can do was to duck and dodge the claw of the beasts as they dived again and again in an attempt to pick them up in their talons.

Like vultures attracting to a piece of carcass, dragons from all corners of the block flew towards the survivors of Ascalon as Atto pushed Angel out of the way to dodge a charging dragon who ended up crashing into a near by house.

"This is madness," Angel yelled as she got back to her feet, "they're everywhere!"

"Just head for an exit and get out of the city!" Atto yelled in reply and began to pull Angel towards t an alleyway when the familiar Blue Eyes White Dragon landed directly in front of them, blocking their path. On top of which, sat the large man whose face was now covered in blood from his injury.

Instinctively, Atto searched the surroundings for anything he could use as a weapon like he did before. But the large man had learned his lesson, and before Atto can even begin to pick anything up, he jumped off his dragon and swung his mace at full force into the boy's chest.

A sickening crack of flesh and bone followed the impact as blood erupted from Atto's mouth, for a moment, all of his senses disappeared, all apart from the sound of Angel screaming in terror and the sight of red as he fell onto his back at the feet of the large man. It felt like the end and it felt like drifting away at the same time as he began to slowly let go his field of consciousness, his eyes watched as other men began to gather around him and spoke in hushed whispers.

"There's no way this kid's going to make it through the night." One spoke, looking down at Atto's body.

"What about the girl?" The other asked.

After much consideration, the large man looked at Angel and said: "Take her back to the fortress and no questions asked." Before looking back down to Atto, "Hope you've learned your lesson, kid, no body beats Darkness and gets away with it, no, body."

With that, he disappeared from Atto's field of vision and the others soon followed. He tried to move his neck to see what they were about to do, but he could no longer feel the rest of his body, overwhelming pain began to creep throughout as he tried again, only to fail.

Another scream filled his ears, he tried to recognise it but could not stop his brain from shutting down. His last vision was that of the dragons flying away, one of which held Angel in its claws, and one by one, they disappeared…


	6. Victory of the Earth

Author's notes: This is actually two small chapters linked together; don't ask me why because your guesses are just as good. Must organise myself better…

**Chapter 6: Victory of the Earth**

Next day, the sky remained pitch black and charcoaled, the way it has been for countless years. As the first rays of dawn struggled to penetrate the thick and tar like clouds, the Eathans below basked in what little light they could find, the fact that there was hardly enough sun shine for a small plant to survive on mattered little to them, because all that was about to change.

High above the smoking remains of Ascalon, Darkness smiled broadly at the sweet smell of victory. Just as he had planned, what little weapons the humans had became next to useless without their precious electricity, which is something his people had neither need nor desire for. Without their weapons, the apes-descendants were no more than the sand bags Darkness's men had fought in basic training, none of them could even master enough strength and courage to throw a punch, let alone create any sort of physical threat.

Although with that said, some of them were rather difficult to apprehend, Darkness thought as he rubbed the small yet distinguishable scar on his forehead where Angel had smashed that rather conveniently placed pottery. Like all Eathans, she was a natural fighter and he felt it.

But like all great battles in history, there had to be losers, and rather predictably, it was the under performing humans. Pity, I was hoping for a better challenge but it obviously wasn't meant to be, he thought, gazing down at the thousands of prisoners tied up and disarmed below him, behind each one stood a Eathan warrior with his or her sword placed upon the human's neck, ready to end their pathetic lives at a single command.

Which is exactly what they were there to do.

"Scum of the Earth!" He yelled at the prisoners, whose face was only lit by the dying flames, which surrounded them, keeping them from escaping. Not that they will escape. "For millenniums you have spread your evil around the Earth, extinguishing her pure heart and exterminating all that stood in your way. Never did you once consider the consequences of your actions and thanks to your act of continuous ignorance, the Earth was forced to weep until she could cry no more, and closed her eyes for all eternity!" He drew his sword and raised it at the darkened sky, and at this motion, each and every Eathan warrior raised their own swords high in the air, "Your crimes were unforgivable, as well as your existence. The age of humans is over, for this is the beginning of an age of prosperity, peace, and civilisation, and your so-called empire must come to its knees!"

Silence swept across the ghostly field of men, women, and children, what was once the nosiest specie on Earth has suddenly been silenced and not a word was passed between them.

"Children of the Earth!" Darkness yelled once more and an earth shattering cheer came in reply, "Soak the Earth with the blood of our enemies and revive her!"

Another cheer rang, followed by a unison noise of blade on flesh as hundreds of thousands of people's throats were slit simultaneously. One after the other, the bodies, now empty of life, began fall. As man's rule came to an end, their blood slowly soaking into the sands of their home, a gust of wind blew from one end of the planet to the other, as if Mother Nature herself had uttered a sigh of relief.

Darkness closed his eyes and felt the gust; it was refreshing to the skin with the added touch of tranquillity that can only be achieved by the Earth herself. Knowing that the time has come, he held his sword above his head and chanted the verses he had known since he was a mere child, the words were like songs to his heart as his sword began to sizzle and glow in crimson red. The Eathans below gazed in wonder, as the sword grew brighter, even more so than the burning city around them, their dragons roared and their horses stomped, almost in unison with the chants, in unison with the Earth itself.

Without warning, a beam of white light ignited from the sword's edge and began to streak its way towards the ever so black clouds, which separated the sun from shining the land. As it finally reached the clouds, the pools of blood still leaking from the human's necks started to vibrate and levitate off the sand, like snakes they crept their way towards the light, all the while joining together with other near by streams of blood until they became one large ball of red liquid.

Still chanting, Darkness waved the sword, and like a puppet, the ball of blood did the same. Again, he waved the sword, more violently this time, and again the ball did the same, this time getting closer as it did. As Darkness waved his sword for the final time, the ball broke back down into one long snake and began to spiral it's way to the clouds, getting faster by each second. By the time it had reached the very edge of the clouds it had became a rampaging tornado and struck the clouds like a spinning top, slowly sucking it into its eerie vortex. Within seconds the clouds began to clear away as the vortex span faster and faster, and like water down a plughole, the clouds were draining away. All over the world, light was once again shining through to the land and as if by magic, plants and animals that has been hiding for seemingly an eternity climbed to the surface, away from their deep hibernation and stared at the new world.

It was now early morning, and the last of the clouds disappeared into the vortex without a sound. His chant finished, Darkness waved his sword once again and sent the red vortex spinning into the sky until not a trance of it can be seen.

He opened his eyes and stared into the sun, feeling its rays against his skin. For once in his life, he felt at home…

Unbearable pain was the first thing that met his mind as he slowly regained consciousness, and as though the shadows of his mind refused to let go, he drifted once again back into the unreachable parts of his soul.

A few minutes later, he tried again, this time the process of waking up was less difficult, yet the same unbearable pain made him reconsider about coming back to reality. But that option was out of his range of choices. Despite the fact that he was now truly awake and feeling every agony of the moment, he only had few senses to tell him what was happening.

First to come was his hearing, and the news it brought back to him wasn't what he had hoped for. The first few noises were indistinct and muffled, as if someone was talking to him from far away using a microphone that doesn't actually work, they were worsened by the fact that there seemed to be some sort of horrid moaning in the background. The clearest of all the sounds, however, was the noise of someone crying from behind, which wasn't something he fancied to hear at that particular time.

Something in the back of his head told him that he really were better off unconscious.

The next to come was his vision, which like his hearing, was blurred to begin with. In fact the only things he could see after opening his eyes were dark shadows of what appeared to be people, combined to what he was now hearing, it seemed that they were all talking in hushed and worried tones. Eager to find out what's going on, he blinked several times, each time his vision became clearer, but only slightly. By the time his vision had truly returned, however, he once again wished that he were still unconscious as he watched men in white coats moving from one end of his field of vision to the other, all of whom were performing an operation in a hushed and professional fashion.

But what truly terrified him the most was that the patient was none other than himself.

This only confused him even more, what was wrong with him? Why are those people operating on him in the first place? Yet as he finally regained the rest of his senses, the answer was all in front of him, the attack, his injury, Angel's capture, the lot. At this thought his chest began to inflate in pain once again, this time though, it went away much quicker, as if what ever it was that caused the pain in the first place is slowly disappearing.

A few minutes later, the pain was reduced to a mere tingle as the doctors finally took a sigh of relief and wiped their brows in pride. This should have caused him to be happy, or at least relaxed. But it was not meant to be.

Just as he felt that his wounds have seemingly disappeared, his senses gave him a new and fresh horror of what has happened. The moaning and cries were becoming louder than ever as the scene of the hospital truly struck his mind. For this was all that's left of Ascalon and the entire human race…


	7. Survivors of War

**Author's notes**: Sorry about the delay, I don't feel very well recently and just didn't feel like writing until now, partly because of the school work, but mostly because of my up coming birthday and I have no mood what so ever to even think about it. Anyway, thanks for waiting, those who cares anyway. It'll probably take some time for me to update again but I could always try, I suppose… 

**Chapter 7: Survivors of War**

There has always been a certain order to this world, one of the most basic would be the fact that some creatures must kill and feed on others. It's one of nature's most terrifying and difficult lessons and this can be observed by the fact that the unfortunate ones who are not strong enough must become the victim and therefore suffer for their weaknesses.

The Eathans, however, always believed that they themselves has already elevated above these petty matters, not because they disrespect nature and her rules and laws, but the fact that there simply isn't a mortal creature on this planet that could challenge their might.

This would be an Eathan's most basic knowledge and wisdom, for he or she who does not live by this rule won't live at all.

And Angel could feel the weight of all these teachings bearing down on her before she even woke up. When she did emerge from her sleep, however, the world she now suddenly sees is not something that she was expecting.

Instead of rough brick walls and blood soaked ground, she saw a magnificent room worthy of kings. All around her were beautifully crafted ornaments, elegantly woven silk curtains, floor tiles made of exotic materials and paintings on every wall, even the ceiling was covered in a master piece drawn by an unknown artist whose very soul seemed be present above her head. But the one part of the room that caught her attention the most made all these luxuries seem like disposable items, for directly in front of the soft and comforting bed she laid upon was a massive opening to a balcony, and beyond that lies a forest teeming with life. Birds and animals that she has never before seen climbed and flew and got on with their lives, rejoicing in the natural wonders that grew around them, and directly above this forest, was a sky of clear blue with the healthy bright glow of the sun that almost brought tears to her eyes.

It was like heaven, or at least the closest thing to it she has ever witnessed.

"Where am I?" She whispered to herself. For a while she couldn't tell whether she's woken up at all, or this was some fantasyland she was dreaming up in her mind.

With considerable effort, she heaved herself up into a sitting position on to the bed which seemed to be made of marshmallow and felt the soft silk cover rubbing gently against her bare skin, and at that moment, she could swear that she would be perfectly happy to spend the rest of her life here.

Which, ironically, was exactly what Darkness was hoping for.

* * *

As the doctors and surgeons moved away from their patient and began to remove the make shift gloves and masks which they wore, they uttered quiet and nervous words as they watched Atto Emes heaving himself off the operation table. Every single one of them knew the extent of the damage and how much danger this child would be for the next few days, and until his wounds become fully stable they must not leave his side. Which considering their current position, this wasn't the easiest part of their jobs. 

"Please," One of them hushed at Atto and rushed to his side, "You must not strain yourself in any way, any excess use of your chest muscles in the next few days could undo everything we've just done, and that would be fatal."

Whether or not his patient understood or even heard any of that was unsure to him, but it became quite clear that whichever meanings were taken, the boy did not care.

"You have others to tend to," Atto whispered without looking at any of them, "Leave me be."

Without needing to be asked twice, the doctors rushed to the man laying next to the table and picked him up in a rather brutal fashion and dumped him on, all the while rushing to prepare for the this next operation, one more to add to the gruesome amount they had to tend to this day.

Away from the half dead man, Atto began to scan the rest of room, which suddenly appeared to be a massive bunker with groaning and crying people laying on simple and make shift beddings, one next the other as if they were no more than cargo onboard a ship. Due to the way each man, women, and child were laid out, Atto guessed that there must be at least three hundred people in this part of the bunker alone.

The space between these packed up people were hardly big enough for one to walk through, nevertheless Atto began his small journey across the seemingly endless ocean of wounded and weary in an attempt to locate an empty space for himself, which from the look of things, will take longer than he thought. Among the people resting, sleeping, dying on their spaces, only a few of them appeared to be unharmed. All the others had received an injury in some way. The ones that he saw consisted of a mixture of broken limbs, some of which were missing completely, smashed in body parts including heads, badly burnt out body mass with barely recognisable faces, and a few who were laying in a pool of their own blood, clearly long dead before the small band of doctors even got anywhere close to treating them.

Atto looked away from their tortured faces and thought about his own problems, even now he could feel his organs turning inside out and back the other way, the part of his chest that was smashed in by the mace seemed to be tearing apart, and his blood slowly flowing away from his body.

This is not life, he told the part of himself that was still conscious, this is suffering.

After several minutes of trundling among people who looked worse than the ones before them, he finally came to a stop in front of a empty space carpeted by a layer of torn cloths and random bits and pieces of material ranging from ruined bedding to the clothes of the deceased. Signing heavily, he got down to his knees and slowly, with pain flashing once again through his chest, got down to his back and tried to relax and ignore the screams and cries that shook the very foundations of the bunker.

A few meters away, he heard the voices of two young children chatting in the background, one of which clearly had some kind injury to his throat.

"Mum told me that this is our home now," The boy muttered miserably, more to himself than to his injured companion, "I don't know why, maybe the land lord finally decided to do something about all that dept we owed."

From the corner of his eyes, Atto saw the child's companion place a comforting hand on the boy's shoulder and began to speak in a hoarse and struggled voice that sounded painful and blood filled with every word.

"Don't…be…sad…" He coughed with each syllable, a few droplets of blood sprayed from his mouth, "I lost….my home…and…friends…too…"

Tears began to emerge in Atto's eyes as he continued to listen to the children's conversation.

"There's so many people, none of them moving, are they going to be alright?"

"Of…course…"

"But my daddy stopped moving yesterday, and they took him away. I've waited all day for his return," The child paused at the memory and looked down at the bug-infested ground, "but he did not come."

His companion spoke again, this time though the sentence was broken into harsh words and with each one his voice sounded fainter and more difficult to make out.

"Parents…gone…no one…but me…miss…them…I…" He never finished his sentence before dropping to his side and coughing none stop.

As the boy frantically yelled for help, Atto saw blood dripping from his companion's slit throat, and knew instantly that the kid was going to die soon the moment he received that injury, just like the countless others that lied around him.

Closing his eyes and forcing the image out of his mind, he remembered something else, a face, a face he has known so well, being taken away from him. But before he could fully recreate the image, he drifted into a haunted sleep where he was reminded of a simple fact.

He could die here and no one would even take notice…


	8. Seeds of Rebellion

Author's note: Wow… how long has it been? Did I forget I still had this thing? I can't remember… it must be that dodgy looking fish I had for supper back in October or something… Anyway, I'm back and this time I'm not letting my laziness or any fish to stop me from finishing this story (at least I hope so). Please remember to review, or I really would cease my muse from going any further with this idea.

**Chapter 8: Seeds of Rebellion**

It had always amazed Atto to think that despite the various disasters and so called Armageddon everyone talked about; the human race always seemed to survive virtually unscathed. Over the course of a million years nature has always tried all she could to dispose of the ape descendent life forms but to no avail, mankind continued to exist in some form and multiplied even faster than they did before.

Now though, Atto wasn't all that sure.

As he searched the large and crowded warehouse for anyone he might recognise, he realised that this time, Mother Nature had been serious. Whispers of what had happened after the initial attack filled the place as men, women, and children discussed in terror of what shall become of them. Those who had volunteered as scouts to the surface claimed that Ascalon appeared to be disserted, and all that's left of the city were ruins and shadows of its once glory past.

But there were other rumours, rumours of hope and peace, and as he approached the far end of the warehouse, he began to pick up what some people were saying.

"They say that the sky's blue again," One boy no older than him whispered in the corner.

"But that's impossible," came a reply from a girl who was sat hunched against the wall with her head leaned against the boy's shoulder, she appeared to have sustained an injury to her shoulder and even from this distance, Atto could tell that an infection is working it's way throughout her system, "Ever since the neutron bomb went off, the sky was decimated with all life forms unprotected from it's radiation eradicated." She paused for a moment and looked briefly at Atto's direction before turning back to her companion, "I suppose it would be nice to see it for real, though, to feel the wind in your hair and the sun in your eyes…"

"Then go up there and see it, then."

Both kids stared upwards at Atto, who was now standing right before them, intent to join the conversation. Silence then followed with neither of the three knowing what to say, the boy wore a look of slight annoyance in his face at the sudden intrusion yet the girl had curiosity written all over her.

"But we can't, there might still be more of them up there," She whispered with her eyes still fixed on the stranger, "Besides, no one's been outside the city limits for decades now, who knows if the air is still contaminated."

Atto knelt down at one knee and locked his eyes onto hers, for a moment, she looked almost identical to Angel but he blinked the thought away and whispered, "Those dragon riders came from the outside, don't you think they should be vomiting all over the place if the air really is contaminated?"

Silence fell between them again; the boy sat near Atto was getting angry now, for all he knows this kid could be a dangerous madman looking for some extra meat. Yet there he was, staring intently into the girl with no emotion on his face at all and for a brief second, the boy wondered if he knew them.

"What are you saying, then?" He asked, finally getting the stranger to notice his existence, "That we should just go up there and check it out? Even when my sister might get her head taken off by some dragon riding freak?"

"I'm not a child anymore, Yarou! So stop treating me like one." The girl stared at her brother sternly, making sure that her point was being fully put across before turning back to Atto, "Are you saying that you know how to get up there without being seen?"

"Lucy!" The boy cried in protest but to no avail.

Atto looked away from her eyes and thought about it, he has yet to fully explore the compound to know all of it's entrances and exits, plus there's too much people around for them to leave without some adults dragging them back to their places the moment they're seen anywhere near the doors. But on the other hand, there's so much noise in here that everyone would be occupied with something.

"I'll report back here as soon as I check the place out, be ready to get moving as soon as I return." And with that, he stood up and began to walk away before a firm hand was placed onto his shoulder and pulled him back. When he turns to see whom it was the eyes of the boy known as Yarou met his and he's not happy with what was happening.

"Listen, wise guy," He snarled, ready to knock Atto out without any warning, "I'm not letting you take my sister away without an explanation, just what are you playing at? What good would it do to us even if you somehow manage to get us out? Do you even know what you're doing?"

Atto stared back at him for a few seconds before replying in the calmest tone he could master, "Those scouts believes that the city is empty of anyone else, we are all that's left, yet they do nothing about it. Do you seriously want stay here for the rest of your life whilst worrying about what you might find up there? Man kind didn't become the top dog of this planet without taking risks and that's exactly what I intend to do." He took a brief glance at Yarou's sister, who was starting to pull on bits of extra clothing in case the temperature might be lower than she's used to, "Your sister seemed to be prepared to take the risk to find out what's out there, are you?"

Perplexed, the boy took his hand off of Atto's shoulder but he continued to stare at him with mistrust written all over his face and even as he watched the stranger walk towards the nearest exit he can find, Yarou couldn't help but feel that he's on to something other than exploration.

* * *

As dawn rose, the flames that served as a reminder of battle finally died down. Across the wasteland that was Ascalon, three teenagers crawled from the smashed remains of a large bunker and stood facing the devastation that stared back at them. From above, the calling of an eagle caught their eye as it soared with a graceful flick of its wings and disappeared beyond the horizon.

"Life…" Atto whispered, stretching to get one last glimpse of the bird that seemed so out of place against the remains of this ghost city. They headed onwards, devoid of any sense of where they were and where they were going, for everything that once seemed so familiar were now smashed beyond recognition. From a nearby stadium with its roof totally caved in came the smell of burning flesh as insects and birds alike pecking away at the rotting bodies of men, women and children. The three paused and glanced at the building, trying to remember what it was once like, before the nightmare came.

"See?" Yarou turned to the others with disgust written on his face, they have barely made more than a few hundred yards, and already his arms and legs were covered with even more bruises and cuts than before. "There's nothing here, nothing but corpses anyway."

For a few moments, they searched the skies, hoping to see another eagle or some other signs that there's still hope for this city. None came.

"Let's go," Yarou spoke again, this time tugging at his sister's arm, beckoning her to go back. Nearby, however, Atto remained as still as ever, continuing to stare at the sky.

"There's nothing here!"

As though brought back to reality, the still heavily wounded boy looked back at his two companions and smiled. "Exactly, there's nothing here, no dragons, no men with swords, nothing. We're safe to come out." He studied their faces for any reactions but saw none. For the first time, even Lucy seemed eager to get back to safety.

"It is nice to see the sky again," She whispered, waving at her surroundings "But I can't ignore all this, I mean for all I know one of these bodies could be my best friend," She stared into Atto's eyes, her mouth quivering at the memories and pointed at a deserted rail way station with a MD express crumpled into a sphere of crushed metal and shattered glass, "And my parents could've been on that train when it crashed and…" She slump onto her knees and squeezed her eyes shut, trying to shut it all away, "…and I just can't bear to see all this, not with my eyes and not in my dreams, I just can't bear it."

Her brother quickly knelt down and embraced her into a tight hug, sometimes the only way for a big brother to calm his siblings and for a moment, all that could be heard was their quiet sobs and the distant calls of a crow. All of a sudden, Ascalon never seemed so empty, so deserted, so dead, and Atto smashed his fist against a nearby piece of rubble to make some sort of noise to cover the unbearable silence as much as burying his own grief into the dusty little crater filled with the blood seeping from his hand.

"They're dead, I know," He turned to the couple, both of whom were staring at him in amazement, "but we are still here, and unless we want to hand our lives to them on a silver platter, we've got to survive."


	9. Possession

**Author's note: **This chapter is more or less dedicated to Angel, and by the way, has anyone guessed which card Darkness is based on yet?

Chapter 9: Possession 

None of this is real, it is an illusion, and they just want to poison your mind.

Again, Angel closed her eyes and repeated the line, this time with more determination than ever before.

Think! How can any of this be real? You know what it should be like so stop dreaming and wake up!

Gingerly, she opened her eyes and looked back at the balcony but quickly shut them again, for what she saw what she feared most. The forest and all of its inhabitants were still there. Now fully annoyed, she shook her head in an attempt to get back to the real world and tried again, but it was no good, the animals were still alive and well.

This is not possible!

Defeated, she stood up and strolled towards the opening, her heart pumping at a pace she didn't know was possible as she reached out and tried to touch a near by branch.

She never made it, for her hand suddenly slid through the leaves and insects resting on them, and the sudden realisation that she has been right all along suddenly became unacceptable to her as she struggled to stop herself from screaming in frustration.

Near the doorway, the sound of heavy footsteps approached, and suddenly, Angel remembered it all. As the heavy wooden doors swung open, she grabbed a near by vase and prepared to fight for her life, and at sight of the man behind the door, the vase catapulted towards his face.

"This is a force of habit, isn't it?" Darkness laughed as he caught the potential weapon effortlessly in mid air, "last time you caught me by surprise, this time you're not so lucky." He laughed again and chucked the object back at the girl, who immediately threw it back, this time with a force worthy of an athlete. But again, the armour-clad warrior harmlessly caught it, although with a bit more effort. "You need to learn some manners, young lady."

Now devoid of any weapons, Angel whispered her prayers and prepares to fight hand to hand, but Darkness remained where he was, wearing a smile on his face and waited patiently for her to calm down.

"Well?" Angel breathed, trying to stop her nerves from getting the better of her, "Aren't you going to cut me down like you were going to back in Ascalon?"

Darkness remained silent, studying his captive with interest as she wondered what he planning to do. From outside, an eagle flew through the trees and branches and landed on a shelf near the balcony, its leg was bound with a parcel and it waited for someone to take it off. No one moved.

"Tell me, young one," Darkness asked, breaking the awkwardness, "But why are you so…afraid?"

Perplexed by the question, Angel muttered, "You killed them all, didn't you? None was left alive and that was exactly what you wanted, right?"

The warrior strolled closer and sat down on the bed, his eyes avoiding Angel's as he stared into his blood soaked hands. "Thousands of years ago, we were so much different, we were taught to love all of nature's children and only kill when we need to survive." He glanced at Angel, who seemed a lot less tense than before but still refused to let him near her, "But then the humans came, at first we thought they were just another species of animal, perhaps even our brothers, but it wasn't meant to be. They evolved, and kept on evolving until they started to question their existence and that's when extermination was inevitable." He turned to her, this time looking into her eyes, a move which suddenly caused Angel to let go all of her hate and grief. "The first battle was lost, but we had to fight on, like my father and his father before him, I am just another Eathan fulfilling my destiny."

Silence swept the room as they stared into each other's eyes, attempting to connect their souls. For the first time, Angel suddenly no longer felt vulnerable, she did not require any more weapons to hit this stranger with, for she felt like she knew him from a past and distant life.

"You are trying to lure me in." She stated without emotion, hoping for some sort of direct reply.

Darkness smiled, and with a wave of his hand, the forest and all of its animals behind her disappeared, and all that remained was a vast dessert stretching as far as the eye could see. Angel turned to look at the scenery that she was born knowing and just beyond the hill that was more or less touching the horizon lay the remains of Ascalon and all she could see beyond that was a sky without storms and lightning, a sky pure blue.

"I have been watching you," Darkness crept closer and whispered into her ear in an almost affectionate way, "I know of your love for nature and all of her wonders and how much you wish to see it all as it once was before your kind destroyed it all."

"That's why you used that illusion." Angel replied, her eyes fixed onto the sky.

"Resurrection of the sky might only take a day but everything else would take a lot more than that," The warrior placed his hand onto her shoulder, "And you are perfectly welcome to stay and see it all happen."


	10. Power of Insanity

Author's notes: All right, all right, I must admit I've been a bit lazy. God, it's so depressing today, the rain is pounding relentlessly outside and I'm really bored. Perfect time to update, and yet, this story's been up here for almost a year now and still only five reviews? Is it my style that's putting people off or something? Tell me so I can improve! (Please)

Chapter 10: Power of Insanity 

During his life as a boy of the streets who fight first and ask questions later, Atto has seen many strange things and met plenty of people who others would describe as abnormal. Many of these individuals had opposed him in certain respects and he would usually counter their threats and taunts by acting calmly and then giving them an uppercut. But even he found it hard to adapt when just after he, Yarou and Lucy had reported their finds and confirmed that Ascalon was indeed empty, a declaration was made: "Now it's time for us to fight back!"

"What?" Although it touched his heart when someone finally found the courage to speak up to the survivors about what needed to be done, one look at the current situation even had him stumped. "How are we going to do that?"

At what was left of the front entrance, a huge of a man in his forties climbed to the top of a pile of wreckage as a sort of make shift stand, making himself clear amongst the sea of people whose attention was now fully concentrated on him. "Now is the time, people, now is the time that we show those murderers what we are made of!"

Below him, murmurs began to spread, amongst the noise came sounds of hope, freedom, and perhaps joy. But from where Atto stood, the people were not so optimistic. Surely we cannot simply fight them head on, he considered, most of these people could hardly stand, let alone put up a resistance.

"I sure hope that guy knows what he's talking about." Yarou whispered, studying the man carefully, weighing him up.

Atto too wondered at him, a massive bulk of a human wearing what's left of a military jacket and combat trousers, meaning that either he has some experience of military tactics or he, more likely, stole them for authority.

"Well what do you suggest we do?" Someone from the back asked with a hint of doubt in his voice.

The man stared at where the voice came and for a moment he said absolutely nothing. The bunker was now dead quiet; everyone was holding their breath, waiting for some sort of enlightenment as to how they could fight back.

But still, the man said nothing.

"I'm not sure about this." Lucy whispered back to his brother.

As if he heard her, the man suddenly jerked back to life. Now though, he seemed to go through a transformation. "What do we do? What do we do?!" He yelled, "I'll tell you what we'll do! We hit them where it hurts and teach them a real lesson, that's what we'll do!"

Almost immediately, the crowds began to disperse. They have heard enough. No one, not even an idiot would except that as a proper combat plan, for never before in history did an army with no proper weapons nor proper soldiers ever win a battle with that single purpose in their minds and nothing else.

It was preposterous.

"How many have you lost?"

As quickly as they left, the crowds stopped.

"How many loved ones did you lose that night, huh?"

One by one, people turned to face the man who a few seconds ago was simply another psycho in their minds. Now though, he no longer seemed like a man, but rather a sheer force, reading what was thought in everyone's head.

"All I know is that I lost plenty!" He yelled once again, "Plenty enough for me to realise that this is the only logical solution!"

Even the disabled began to nod in approval as room began to fill with excitement and for a worrying second, Atto felt as if his two companion was feeling the same.

"Don't be a fool."

All of a sudden, the crowd silenced again, this time focusing their attention on him. One look into their desperate eyes told Atto that perhaps he should have kept that thought to himself, and yet, there was a sense of responsibility in his heart; if these people were to fight on such a short notice, they would loose with almost absolute certainty. But is that really so bad? He asked himself, didn't father use to say that in a world of poverty and slavery, even a minute of freedom was worth fighting for?

"Who just said that?" The walking mass of muscle yelled, his voice rang and reflected off the walls, as if it was the voice of nature itself. "Come up here and show yourself, coward!"

Would it be right to convince them out of it? After all the hate he has felt? He could loose the only chance he has of finding Angel, but is that not a selfish thought? The questions kept ringing in his head as he marched recklessly towards the man. Around him, people parted to make way, disapproval was clearly dominant in their hearts and yet, beneath the lust for revenge, there lays respect. By the time Atto has reached his destination, a decade seemed to have passed, but the events that were to follow would flash before his eyes.

"Speak, you little pipsqueak, speak! Why such words of cowardice?"

Good question, he thought, but this was not a time for hesitation as the whole world seemed to have fixed their gaze upon his face and the knowledge was nauseating. "You cannot lead these people to a battle of such haste."

"Haste?" The man clenched his teeth, if it wasn't for all these people watching his every move, he would have happily knocked the living daylights out of this coward before his eyes. "I am General Rider, leader of the G.A.F., and I will not have you questioning my tactics…"

"What tactics?"

The man stopped in mid sentence as he struggled to think of a proper comeback but his mind has clearly blacked out. This man have no idea what he's doing, Atto scoffed, and he knows of the G.A.F.; a bunch of lazy good-for-nothings who, when they finally get to work, are more like thugs than anything else. "Look at these people," he pointed at the sea of decaying and diseased human flesh, "What can they possibly do in a battle in such condition? If we couldn't hold the enemy off in Ascalon, what makes you think that we can do it now? The only reason why any of them is even bothered to lay eyes on you is because you have taken advantage of their thirst for vengeance and believe me; I would like some too. But if any of them have even a drop of common sense left, they would be able to see that you are a fool and what you want them to do is suicide."

At this, Rider began to twitch uncontrollably, in all his years, no one has ever dared to define his decisions, and where one might respect the boy for such courage, he can only feel rage.

Without warning, his foot jabbed into Atto's stomach, sending him flying off the stand. With a thump, the boy landed on the steel plated floor, all the wind he had in his lungs have abandoned him and for a while, all he could do is gasp. As the rage began to boil up to full height, Rider jumped off the pile and landed close to Atto's head. Effortlessly, he picked him up by the collar and spat in his face. "Only the strong survive in this world, kid, and you are not one of them." A well-aimed fist in the face was all it took to incapacitate the boy as the man dragged his limp body across the hall. He punched a control station near the end and a transparent glass panel began to slide upwards.

"What are you doing?" Lucy called as she rushed to the pair, only to be met by Rider's cold and empty gaze. "Don't hurt him."

As if wearing a mask, the former general managed to put up a smile, much to Lucy's despair, "What sort of message would I be giving out? No, I'm not going to hurt him. Instead, I'm going to educate him. This kid does not understand the value of life, and that we must fight for survival, therefore he clearly need some time and space to think about what he should and should not do in the future." And with that, he tossed Atto into the damp storage room and punched the controls again. The shock absorbing glass began to slide back into place and Atto could only watch as it shuddered and locked into place, there was no way to get out now, not even if he had the strength of ten. He struggled to the panel and gazed at the crowed on the other side, none of who moved of spoke.

"Don't be such fools."

One by one the survivors of Ascalon returned to their spots until only Yarou and Lucy remained. Hoping for some way of escape, Atto stared into their blank faces only to be stunned by Yarou's words. "You'd be surprised at what we can do in such condition."


	11. A Second Chance

Author's notes: very simple message today, I NEED MORE REVIEWS!!! PLEASE, PEOPLE!!

**Chapter 11: A Second Chance**

As night began to creep in upon the colossal fortress, its inhabitants prepared for a good night's sleep. Deep within the chambers, the guards changed shifts, keeping security in tiptop condition. Far above, the night sky was clear of clouds, and for the first time in centuries, the stars dominated the heavens. Every now and again, a comet would flash across the horizon, and the citizens would say their own prayer; Ra has blessed their land and they will soon be rewarded with a great harvest.

From the tallest tower within the fortress walls, Angel stood alone in a beautiful silk dress incrusted with the pearls of the legendary ocean and wild flowers from the great plains of Asia, all of which suspended in time to capture and preserve the most perfect time in their existence. How this was possible amongst a lot of other things such as how the world suddenly seemed so peaceful and why she wasn't trying to escape were all befuddling to her. And yet, despite all the questions and the frankly alien environment she is now in, Angel felt peace, more than she has felt in a very long time.

"Is it not exactly as I had promised?" Darkness sat on the edge of the bed, gazing dreamingly at the figure, which seemed more of a goddess wrapped in such divine clothing than a mere mortal, "the riches, the comfort, and the peace?"

For a while, Angel did not answer, for she was still far too much in thought; how could these beings act so natural even though they have slaughtered thousands of innocent lives no more than a week ago? How could they claim to be so civilized when they worship the act of battle and give the weak no chances at all? And most importantly, why is their leader so interested in her, interested enough to keep her alive?

"The answer is simple."

Angel turned to look at her companion; something she was compelled to do yet did not dare for the past hour. "Are you reading my mind?" She whispered, the mere suggestion of which contradicted in everything she believed in; magic cannot possibly exist.

"Reading one's thoughts are one of the more basic forms of our abilities," Darkness replied in a equally gentle and some how, unnerving way, "the success of such spells depend solely upon the intended target. Those of weak minds, such as a mere human, are easy to read; sometimes the spells aren't even necessary, for their minds dwell purely on greed and fear. Such corrupted minds were never meant to last."

Angel frowned and looked away. For a second she had considered that perhaps Darkness was much more respectful and noble than she had first believed, now though, he seemed just as arrogant as ever.

"But you… you are so different," He continued, "from the moment I laid eyes upon you, I knew you were something else, something far more than just another human. At first I thought it was your attitude towards the world and everything within it that seemed so unique, but then I realised that you were a lot more complex than that." He stood, refusing to shift his gaze as he moved towards her, "your mind, your body, your very soul has been signalling me, trying to tell me that you are more than you appear to be. Your potentials are incredible, such powerful aura should not and cannot be wasted away…" He paused, standing right behind her, his face next to hers, his arms wrapping around her waist, "you, my beautiful goddess, are beyond the mere comprehension of the world of mortals. You are unique and more intelligent than any I have ever encountered. You, my dear, will be the most powerful spell caster this world has ever seen."

A shooting star streaked overhead and landed near the horizon with a white flash. From bellow, the people began ceased what they were doing and gasped in awe at the crash site; some began to whisper prayers, others bowed.

"See that?" Darkness whispered into Angel's ear, causing her to tense at the sensation, "that's a sign from Ra himself; you will become one of us and I will be destined to train you in the arts of magic, and one day, you will save us all."

* * *

Next day, the sun rose with nothing to block it away. Across the entire desert, tiny signs of life began to creep out from their hiding place; first came the insects, then tiny reptiles, until the vast sea of sand became as busy as the books that Angel has read said they should.

They should all be dead, she told herself, but that is obviously not the case. From across the chamber, an eagle perched itself high on the support beams, staring intently at the girl lying across the bed. For a while, Angel tried to remember what Darkness had said the other night, how she was special. But what could possibly be unique about me, she thought, wrapping the blanket around herself. A few floors bellow her; the first signs of activity began to bounce off the walls of the corridors. The men were getting ready to carry on their work from last night and the soldiers were changing shifts once again, but despite all the commotion, Angel felt alone.

Where is that man? She wondered; if he's so interested in her, why did he leave her on her own? Is he not afraid that she would attempt an escape? For the umpteenths time the thought crossed her mind, yet she decided once again to ignore the idea. There's nothing for her to go back to even if she does make it past the sea of guards and soldiers, Ascalon would now be nothing but rubble and all of those she has once cared about are presumably dead.

"Atto," She whispered, the boy had said that he liked her and from the short time between then and the attack, Angel had hoped for something more out of him, "but there's no hope now… you're gone."

The eagle called and glided down and landed gently next to her, before resting on top of the fluffy pillow and resumed its stare.

"I never even thought I'd ever see the day where I would see an animal anything as beautiful as you." She smiled and stroked the bird tenderly, "But tell me, how could I possibly be as unique as Darkness said I am? I'm just a human, after all."

The eagle remained silent and closed its eyes in content. Funny how after all these days, the only thing Angel has felt comfortably with was a rare bird.

"Everyone is unique, Angel."

Startled, she climbed to a sitting position and stared at the eagle, no way could that bird just spoke to her.

"Do not be afraid, I simply want to be your friend."

The creature's beak did not move, and yet Angel could hear the words as clearly as the voice of a person. Is it talking through her mind?

"The very fact that you can hear me means that you, my friend, are no ordinary human. And when the time comes, you will find that there are many strange and amazing things that only you can accomplish. And when that day comes, you will truly transform into a higher state of being."


End file.
